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Shadow Warriors
}} The Shadow Warriors are an elite band of scouts, warriors and assassins, who are the descendants of loyalist Elves from the Kingdom of Nagarythe during the time of the great Sundering. The Shadow Warriors are masters of ambush and guerrilla warfare, elite warriors even among other Elves. They strike swiftly and noiselessly from concealment with deadly accurate volleys from their longbows. For their part, the warriors of Nagarythe deem their distant kin to be soft and naive. Silently, however, they remain secretly grateful that the burden of the Shadow Warriors has not yet fallen upon their whole race. Whilst the Shadow Warriors never directly respond to a cry for aid, many a battle has been won by an unlooked-for volley of black-fletched arrows, or the silent slaughter of an enemy sorcerer thought invulnerable behind his own lines. Though they are shunned and distrusted by their own folk, the bleak wardens of Nagarythe know full well where their loyalties lie. Overview }} The opening battles of the Elven civil war were fought in the cities of Nagarythe. Fire and madness flowed through once peaceful streets. Brother fought against brother, and mothers screamed for the blood of their children. When the fighting was done, many proud cities had been destroyed forever, and the stain of kin-slaying tainted the stones long after the blood had washed away. Scattered and desperately outnumbered, the loyalists fled into the darkness. They swore before all the gods of heaven that they and their descendants would continue the fight against Malekith and his treacherous forces — throughout eternity, if such was the need. Thus did these ill-fated Elves became the Shadow Warriors — the darkest, most sinister and most brutal of all the High Elves. From carefully concealed hiding places deep within the Shadowlands, these loyal sons and daughters of Nagarythe fought a blood-soaked war against Malekith's traitors. Ambush and deception were their tools, for they lacked the numbers for more conventional war. In the weeks and months that followed, many of the Witch King's patrols perished in lonely places, throats slit or pierced by arrows. To this day, the descendants of the Shadow Warriors continue their grim battle against the Dark Elves — whether on the shores of Ulthuan or the lands beyond. Tactics and skills that began out of desperation have now been honed to a fine and sinister art, passed down with family names and the last precious traditions of an older, more civilised Nagarythe. Even at times when the populace of Ulthuan does not consider itself at war, there is no respite for the Shadow Warriors — only a ceaseless vigil against the approach of those traitors who sank their homeland beneath the waves. The hatred that the Shadow Warriors reserve for the Dark Elves is boundless, for the Sundering cost them not just their lands and loved ones, but also forever stained their reputation with suspicion and dread. Any Dark Elf captured by the Shadow Warriors can expect a long and painful death. The Shadow Warriors' relationship with the rest of Ulthuan is a troubled one. Many High Elves mistrust them, ill at ease with their stony hearts and ruthless ways. Indeed, while they would only speak of it with caution, there are those who whisper that the shadow war has left the Shadow Warriors more like their enemies than they would dare to admit. Trivia *''In "Sons of Ellyrion," the arrows used by Shadow Warriors are detailed as being lighter than those used by Asur Archers, fashioned from withered trees in Nagarythe, ones which had tasted Druchii blood after Alith Anar allegedly nailed seven hundred of them to the walls of Griffon Pass. The iron tips are barbed to make it next to impossible to remove. Each arrow's length is spiked with tiny thorns that would cause ghastly torment to any victim as they writhed in pain. *''Many Shadow Warriors bear red heraldry that symbolises the spilt blood of their kin. Miniatures Shadow Warriors High Elves 8th Edition Miniatures.jpg|8th Edition. High Elf - Shadow Warriors (2).jpg|8th Edition. High Elf - Shadow Warriors (4).jpg|8th Edition. High Elf - Shadow Warriors (3).jpg|8th Edition. High Elf - Shadow Warriors (5).jpg|8th Edition. Shadow Warriors High Elves 7th Edition Miniatures.jpg|7th Edition. Shadow Warriors High Elves 6th Edition Miniatures.gif|6th Edition. Shadow Warriors High Elves 4th Edition Miniatures.png|4th Edition. Shadow Warriors High Elves Mordheim Miniatures.jpg|Mordheim. Sources * : Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition) ** : pg. 48 ** : pg. 81 * : Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition) ** : pg. 52 * : Warhammer Armies: High Elves (6th Edition) ** : pg. 7 * : Time of Legends: Shadow King (Novel) by Gav Thrope ** : Chapter Twenty-One: An Oath Fufilled ** : Chapter Twenty-Six: The Witch King * : Sons of Ellyrion (novel) by Graham McNeill ** : Chapter 2 es:Guerreros Sombríos Category:High Elf Military Category:High Elf Organisation Category:Nagarythe Category:S Category:W